Hospital's Hospitality
The attraction of a career in medicine can be seen in the excitement of parents who want their sons or daughters to study to be a doctor or nurse after they pass plus two. I have no complaints with that, but I seriously think that they need to have an extra subject of human relations in their biology course. I feel that way because this service sector has been failing to fulfil its human responsibility.
When your wife is having a baby and you admit her to a hospital, they carry out the delivery process in a smooth manner. But they do not act as good human beings. First, the hospitals, no matter how big they are, lack facilities for the relatives and friends who come with the patient. They do not have a space to lie down and close their eyes. Furthermore, the way the nurses act creates nothing but frustration. They speak in such a rude voice as if we need to pay for their every word. Are nurses taught to have attitude? I sometimes wonder.
Again, instead of providing service, hospitals are more interested in getting your money. When a family member of yours needs to have an operation, they first ask you to deposit money. This shows how money becomes more important than a patient’s life. In foreign countries, you don’t have to take a leave of absence from your office to stay at the hospital with the patient. They will send the patient back home after a full recovery. And they will send the bill after a month with the due date two months later.
Isn’t this kind of service possible in Nepal? I don’t simply blame the hospitals and their staff. The government, too, has failed to do anything to ensure that Nepalis get better service. If your wife is pregnant, how many weeks off should she take from her job? How many weeks off should you take? The answer varies, and this lack of a fixed policy is a government weakness.
Nobody likes going to a hospital. And when one enters the unfamiliar environment of a hospital, the irritation shown by the hospital staff, instead of good hospitality, makes both the patient and the accompanying family members feel worse. Why don’t they charge extra and provide some friendly hospitality? What is there to be irritated about when a husband asks a nurse why his child has been taken away from the mother soon after birth? The nurse can say politely that the newborn baby has to be given a check-up instead of snapping, “Ask the doctor.”
The attraction of a career in medicine can be seen in the excitement of parents who want their sons or daughters to study to be a doctor or nurse after they pass plus two. I have no complaints with that, but I seriously think that they need to have an extra subject of human relations in their biology course. I feel that way because this service sector has been failing to fulfil its human responsibility.
When your wife is having a baby and you admit her to a hospital, they carry out the delivery process in a smooth manner. But they do not act as good human beings. First, the hospitals, no matter how big they are, lack facilities for the relatives and friends who come with the patient. They do not have a space to lie down and close their eyes. Furthermore, the way the nurses act creates nothing but frustration. They speak in such a rude voice as if we need to pay for their every word. Are nurses taught to have attitude? I sometimes wonder.
Again, instead of providing service, hospitals are more interested in getting your money. When a family member of yours needs to have an operation, they first ask you to deposit money. This shows how money becomes more important than a patient’s life. In foreign countries, you don’t have to take a leave of absence from your office to stay at the hospital with the patient. They will send the patient back home after a full recovery. And they will send the bill after a month with the due date two months later.
Isn’t this kind of service possible in Nepal? I don’t simply blame the hospitals and their staff. The government, too, has failed to do anything to ensure that Nepalis get better service. If your wife is pregnant, how many weeks off should she take from her job? How many weeks off should you take? The answer varies, and this lack of a fixed policy is a government weakness.
Nobody likes going to a hospital. And when one enters the unfamiliar environment of a hospital, the irritation shown by the hospital staff, instead of good hospitality, makes both the patient and the accompanying family members feel worse. Why don’t they charge extra and provide some friendly hospitality? What is there to be irritated about when a husband asks a nurse why his child has been taken away from the mother soon after birth? The nurse can say politely that the newborn baby has to be given a check-up instead of snapping, “Ask the doctor.”
Published in The Kathmandu Post under Post Platform dated 18 July 2012
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